I have a son?, Perseus's mind seemed to echo as he continued to recline in his chair.

    The words Lucifer had told him a few moments prior still reverberated within his mind.

     My son would have to be with Lucifer if he were to make that call, Perseus thought to himself.

      Perseus verbally corrected himself, "Jasoslav…" He paused for a moment before continuing. "His name is Jasoslav…"

       Perseus drummed his fingers against the table, bringing his mind back to the night that he had met Dasha.

          ─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

       Dasha's hands were buried deep within her jacket pockets as she and Perseus made their way down the streets of Vladikovo.

        Perseus had been awkwardly looking down at the ground below them.

        "So, Percy," Dasha began, continuing forward. "What brings you to our sleepy little town of Vladikovo?"

       Perseus exhaled, saying nothing to her. He seemed to be deep in thought, trying to figure out what to say and how not to mess up.

       "We don't get many visitors in these parts of Ukraine," Dasha told him.

         Perseus seemed to be tongue-tied. Normally, Perseus would know exactly what to say to a pretty girl like Dasha, but right now? The archangel couldn't even seem to find the right words.

     Typically, Perseus was suave. He could make any woman, man, or just any person in general fall for him just by casting a wink their way.

       But Dasha? She was different… She wasn't like anyone Perseus had ever met before. She was special.

       "Hello?" Dasha called out. "Earth to Percy?" She snapped a few times. "Anyone home?"

      Perseus blinked a few times, hauling himself out of his millions of loud thoughts that currently threatened to drown him. "Oh uh…" He swallowed. "Sorry. I um-" He stopped. "I'm originally from small settlement in Poland…" He began to tell her. "Ślątyn to be exact…"

     "Hmm…" Dasha began. "Ślątyn, you say? Never heard of it… Where exactly in Poland is it?"

      "In the Northern half," Perseus began to explain. "It's along the coast." He rubbed the back of his neck. "...Along the Baltic Sea."

      "Did you ever go down to the coast?" Dasha began to ask Perseus. "...To go glance upon the Baltic Sea?"

      Perseus exhaled, somewhat gleefully. "I used to all the time as a child. There was just something so serene… so calming about watching the waves move in and out." He paused before adding, "Especially at sunset."

     "Well, around here the closest seas we have are the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov," Dasha said.

      "Have you ever been to them? Have you ever just watched the waves?" Perseus asked.

       Dasha nodded. "Yeah. I have." She laughed a little. "The Sea of Azov's really shallow though… It's like watching a lake."

       Perseus laughed a little to himself due to Dasha's comment before falling silent once again.

       A little time passed before Dasha began to speak. "You know… You never told me why you came here…"

        "Um…" Perseus began. "I'm traveller…. Sight seeing has always been a hobby of mine. I was actually on route to go do some sight seeing in Volgograd…" He exhaled before swallowing. "But, alas, being on the road by yourself can take a little bit of a toll on one's self. I stopped in Vladikovo because I needed a drink."

       Dasha laughed a little at Perseus's explanation. "Likely story…"

        "It's true, I swear. I'm not making this up," Perseus insisted.

        Dasha exhaled. "Alright… Keep your secrets."

   Perseus rolled his eyes a little at Dasha's comment.

      "So, you grew up in this... Ślątyn?" Dasha queried.

      Perseus nodded. "Yep."

      "What was it like there?" Dasha began to ask the archangel. "I don't think I've ever been to Poland."

   "Cold, mostly." Perseus laughed a little. "But um… in Ślątyn, everyone's tightly knit… Everyone knows everyone… And everyone's there for everyone. You need a helping hand? There's sure to be someone to help in Ślątyn."

      "Sounds lovely," Dasha mused.

      "My mother—-Basia…," Perseus started to say. "Everyone in Ślątyn adored her. She'd sing songs, tell tales… She'd entertain them… They loved it…"

       "You said adored… As in past tense," Dasha noted.  "Did something happen to her?"

        "Yeah… um…" Perseus inhaled deeply. "She passed away."

         "I'm sorry," Dasha began, trying to comfort Perseus. "That must've been hard for you."

       "It's fine… It been years," Perseus told her. By years, I mean thousands of them, Perseus thought to himself.

      Silence fell upon the two as they continued to walk.

     Dasha stepped forward, losing her footing and nearly tripping.

     Perseus lurched forward, grabbing onto her arm. "Woah," he began. "That's the end of the sidewalk."

   "Thanks," Dasha told Perseus. Then she nervously laughed a twirled some of her blonde hair around her finger. "I've lived here for centuries… You'd think I'd have this place memorized like the back of hand by now… But, somehow, I still don't."

     Perseus raised an eyebrow, amused. "Centuries, you say?"

      "Oh… Did I say centuries?" Dasha laughed nervously. She swallowed the lump that had started to form in her throat. "I meant that as figure of speech… I was exaggerating." She continued on by turning down the sidewalk.

     Perseus stood there for a few moments before catching up to Dasha. "You don't need to cover that up…" He inhaled. "I am an archangel after all."

     Dasha stopped abruptly. "What?"

     Perseus stopped as well. "Yeah… I've got the wings and all…" He looked her up and down, studiously studying the details on Dasha's face—-mostly her eyes and how they slightly refracted the light around them. He lowered his voice. "And you're Ranavian, I'm guessing…"

     Dasha's orange eyes grew wide. "How'd you know?"

       "Lucky guess," Perseus simply said, before grinning. "I-" He didn't finished.

         Dasha had impulsively leaned forward and kissed him. She pulled back just as quick as she dove in. "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me… I just-" She swallowed. "I was just so overwhelmed by how good it felt to speak to someone who wasn't human again that I just couldn't help myself." She swallowed yet again. "I am so sorry."

      Perseus reached outward interlocking his fingers with Dasha's. "No, it's fine. I really don't mind."

      ─┉─¡! • !¡─┉─

      Perseus found himself heading down a long corridor within Karralan.

     After finding out the information about his son, Perseus had done more digging. He had found out that Jasoslav had a twin sister—-Oktaviya; the two had been separated at birth.

     Oktaviya had been put up for adoption, while Dasha had opted to keep Jasoslav.

        Once he cataloged that information in his mind, Perseus had gotten an urge—-he had gotten an urge to visit an old acquaintance of his.

        Vladikovo wasn't the first time that Perseus had met Dasha.

          He and Dasha had briefly met each other back in the 1300s; Perseus doubted that Dasha would've even remembered the encounter—-but even an interaction so small like that was enough to imprint on Perseus.

        Perseus had his heart dead set on Dasha since the fourteenth century. He wanted to make her his no matter what.

       Perseus continued on through the corridor before stopped in front of a locked door that a guard was guarding.

       "Mr. Andrysiak," the guard began. "Can I help you with something?"

    "I'm here to see the good Lady Astrid Octavien," Perseus told the guard, calmly.

      The guard nodded to him before unlocking the door for him.

        Perseus entered, passing by several cells before stopping in front of the fifth one down on the left hand side.

         There within the cell was a woman with jet black hair and red eyes. She sat on the ground, hunched over.

   Perseus tapped his foot lightly on the ground—-this noise wasn't too loud, but it was still loud enough to gain the woman's attention as she had lifted her head a little upon hearing the tap of Perseus's shoe against the old, cracked, cobblestone floors.

      "Oh, Astrid…" Perseus called out, moving closer to the bars. His tone almost seemed mocking and condescending.

      "What do you want?" The French witch grumbled, not once turning around to look at the archangel. "Can't you see I'm busy rotting away?"

    Dasha had my children and not yours!, Perseus wanted to blurt out. He wanted to flaunt that fact. He knew that revealing information like that would destroy Astrid—-it would break her heart… And maybe… just maybe that's exactly what Perseus wanted.

      "Well?" Astrid called out in a harsh, raspy voice. "I'm waiting." She tilted her head a little to the side to glance back at Perseus.

      "It's about Dasha," Perseus started. He pulled his face closer to the bars as if he planned to taunt Astrid.

     Astrid stiffened for a moment before standing and turning around to fully face the archangel. "What about her?"

      "Nothing, really…" Perseus trailed off to create an asinine pause—-he knew doing something like this would make Astrid want to punch him square in nose. Even better, he thought. He began to string out his words as he talked to Astrid. "It's just that… she…" He trailed off.

      Astrid neared the bars. "That she what? What happened?" She swallowed. "What did you do to her?"

      "Back quite a few years ago, Dasha had twins… My twins." Perseus put extra emphasis on the word 'my'.

      Astrid's already annoyed face contorted into a snarl as she lunged at the bars.

        Perseus quickly hopped back, away from the bars. "Oh? Is someone upset that little pretty Dasha Sklairova loves me more?" He taunted.

       The witch swallowed. "I'm going kill you," Astrid spit, gripping the bars.

        Perseus, who was already heading down the corridor, laughed. His laugh echoed. Right before he stepped out of the prison wing, he called out to Astrid, "I'd like to see you try."